A Tragedy In Five Acts 3: Blame It On My Youth
by Seanchaidh
Summary: With tragedy well and truly in their midst, how will the remaining Mallrats cope with the new crisis on hand. Will Ebony and Jack ever get back together? Will the others escape? And how did Pride know about that secret cupboard?
1. Prologue

**Blame It On My Youth**

**Part 3 of A Tragedy In Five Acts**

**Prologue**

Months had passed, but still there had been a no sign of either the missing Mall Rats or the new tribe that had taken them. Amber's baby had been born on time, this time, but both mother and child had taken pains to avoid Ebony. Ever since the attack on the Mall, Ebony had only had to look at Amber for her own pain to be renewed. Jack felt that pain too, but as Ebony seemed to be avoiding him and his daughter, he had no way of telling her this. In fact, the only person Ebony seemed willing to speak to was Lex.

The loss of Salene had seemed to hit Lex hard, as had the death of Paul, but Ebony's miscarriage had hit him harder than either. He spent almost every waking moment in Ebony's company, sometimes alone, sometimes discussing plans and strategies with Morgaine, Alice and Pride. It was during one of these conferences that the first clue arrived.

"I still don't understand," Alice interjected. "Why they would kill KC and Paul, then take everyone else prisoner."

"Perhaps they had a use for them," replied Morgaine.

"We know that at least one, probably two, of those who were taken were traitors," Pride added.

"You mean how do we know that the rest of them weren't traitors also," Ebony said quietly.

"Nah, no way. Not all of them," Lex said, shaking his head. "There's no way _all_ of them could be traitors without any of us knowing!"

As the discussion rapidly became an argument, Trudy came running into the room, Brady in her arms. The silence that her entrance had precipitated was broken only by the sounds of another argument coming from downstairs.

"You'd better come quickly," Trudy said. "She says she needs our help, but I've never seen her around the city before. I recognised her voice: I think she might be one of the Chosen."

All five got to their feet and hurried out of the room after Trudy. When they reached the bottom of the stairs, they saw on the other side of the grill a young girl dressed in black flared trousers with green trim and a bright green top that cut away above her midriff. Her medium length hair was the same bright green as her top and the trim of her trousers.

"Who are you?" Pride demanded as they approached the grill.

"My name is Glitch," the girl replied. "I'm not a threat to you, I need your help. Plus, if I'm right, I think you need mine too."


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

The whole assembly of Mall Rats gathered in the cafe with Glitch. Pride and Jay flanked the green-haired girl as she sat at the head of the group to tell her story. Amber sat in a corner, nursing her new baby, Hannah, with Trudy beside her holding Brady and Bray close beside her. Jack sat with his daughter in his arms. Sammy and Mouse squatted on the floor. Alice sat next to Pride, with Morgaine on her other side. Lex leant nonchalantly against the wall next to the door. Ebony hovered in the doorway, where her view of the mothers in the corner was blocked by Lex's body. Lex cast a glance over to her.

"I'm fine," Ebony said, in answer to his raised eyebrow. "I have to get used to it. Get back to the old me."

"You don't have to do it now though," Lex whispered, edging closer.

"Yes, I do. I have to try."

"Let me know if you need to go. I'll follow as soon as I can."

"No, if I go, I'll go alone."

"Just remember I'm here... If you need... You know."

"It's okay," Ebony assured him. "I know."

Together, they turned their attention back to the story being told. It appeared that Glitch had, as her name suggested, been one of the Technos. When Ram was killed and the group disbanded, she had gone on the run with a number of her fellows and, as they met other ex-Technos along the way, had reformed in smaller number. Eventually, they had met up with another small group, this one with a much higher authority leading it.

Glitch told them how her group and the other had joined under the leadership of this power. It appeared that the Technos, who had sternly maintained that they were not a tribe, had had a reshuffle. Their new power had declared himself "The Dethroned King" of the city and had announced his intention of taking back his kingdom. This individual ruled with two women beside him: on his right, his "Mistress" would lounge, casting a seductive spell over almost every male in her presence; on his right, the "Queen" would stand, armed and ready to defend her lord. The green-haired girl told them how everyone called into the presence of the three hovered between adoration and fear, each emotion demanded by either woman and both in the "King" himself.

"It was like a drug," Glitch said, her eyes focussed on a point on the table before her. "It wouldn't have surprised me if there had been some drug involved, but I could never find out for certain."

"But who were they?" Amber asked. "Surely, if you recognised their authority, you recognised them."

"Oh, yes, I knew them. I knew two of them very well," Glitch nodded her head to emphasise her point. "The King and Queen. They were Mega and Java. Who else could command such terror and awe... Not to mention power!"

"And the third?" Pride asked gently.

"She was another Techno. I never saw her face, either before or after Ram's death. Her name, her Techno name anyway, was Modem. Once we all reformed, we were instructed to merely call her "my lady" when answering her, and not to speak of her or to her at all otherwise."

"Modem," Jay murmured, frowning.

"Do you know her?" Pride asked over Glitch's head.

"Vaguely," Jay nodded. "Mega recruited her from one of the test subjects. She had shown unusual resistance to the game, he said. Her mind was stronger than the technology and therefore should not be wasted as a tester. He was also responsible for her reprogramming. I never really saw her much, and never without a full face mask."

"Do you know where she came from before she was a test subject?"

Jay shook his head, saying: "No, there were too many. The city I think, but I don't know which tribe."

"So she could be someone we know?"

"She could even be an ex-Mall Rat."

"No," Trudy shook her head, "None of us would join the Technos, much less help lead an attack against the mall!"

The others murmured their agreement with only a few exceptions.

"If she was reprogrammed, she might do anything," Jay said. "Especially if it was Mega doing the reprogramming."

Lex remained silent, his head bowed in thought. Morgaine watched him closely.

Eventually, Glitch resumed her tale. It seemed that all had gone relatively smoothly for a while, until the group had neared the city once more. When they did so, they were met by three new individuals. Two of the three were Technos, the third was their prisoner. They joined the group and their prisoner became Mega's prisoner. She was kept in isolation, apparently, and Mega visited her often, as did the Mistress. Eventually, an entertainment was orchestrated where Java would once more take up her gladiatorial role, this time to fight the prisoner.

This time, Glitch said, she was sure drugs were involved. Java was slow and sluggish. Her punches and kicks were weak and her balance gone completely. The prisoner killed her easily and assumed the role of Queen.

Ebony stiffened at this, but said nothing. She had never been close to her sister. She had often been in situations where she had thought she would have to kill her herself, simply to survive. But the idea of any of her family being cheated out of their life still stung her. Lex heard the sharp intake of her breath and looked round to her, but she reassured him with a tight-jawed nod.

It seemed that it was this new queen who had led Mega and his group into the city. The group had then been dispersed to various outposts surrounding the city centre. They had the usual Techno communication systems, but on a smaller scale. They had the same lasers. They had some surveillance cameras. They had numerous spies. Worst of all, they had been there for months before the attacks began. In fact, if Glitch's reckoning was right, they would have arrived in the city barely a week after Jack and Ebony had left it.

****

"We await your orders, my liege," a mechanical voice sounded through the communicator.

"Maintain your positions for the present time," Mega responded. "Monitor programmes Delta 1 and 2. Keep me updated of their progress."

"Understood."

There was a buzz and a click, then the communicator went silent.

"I must advise you, my liege," the Mistress intoned softly from her precarious position. "I feel programmes Delta 1 and 2 are highly unreliable. Their programming was completed outwith the usual parameters. They may be unconvincing."

"The saintly Mall Rats cannot withstand a plea for help, not from the right quarter," Mega drawled, returning his attention to his Mistress. "They may be suspicious of them, but they will not condemn without proof and, by the time they get that proof, it will be too late. Far too late."


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

A dark figure flitted across the shadowy street, the firelight of one of the many bonfires reflecting suddenly on a speck of white trainer and a silver stud around her neck, then she was gone. All that remained was a slightly darker shadow beneath one of the back windows of the mall, through which floated the sound of a hushed argument.

"Who else could it be, Lex!" Ebony's voice cut through the gloom. "She's the only one who could show that sort of mental power! She was certainly mental enough when she was with us!"

"Hey, she's still my wife!"

"Even if she's this 'Modem'?"

"She isn't."

"How can you be so sure?"

"Tai San wouldn't turn against us that way. She knew KC and Paul: she would never hurt them! She wouldn't hurt any of us!"

"Maybe not before but now that Mega's reprogrammed her, who knows what she is capable of? She sided with the Guardian at one point, remember?"

"She was just trying to bring him down from the inside!"

"Oh, she brought him down all right, but not in the way _you_ mean!"

"It wasn't like that!"

"Open your eyes, Lex, it was exactly like that!"

"She loved me! She _loves_ me!"

"How do you know? Do you still love her?"

"I..."

"What? Not so sure? I'm not surprised! Since Tai San disappeared you've claimed to be in love with my sister, myself and, most recently, Salene! If you're so changeable, what makes you think she isn't also? I know what Mega can do: he only needs the tiniest chink in your armour to get inside your head! If she fell for him like she did for the Guardian..."

"She did NOT fall for the Guardian!"

"How do you know, Lex? You weren't there!"

"Neither were you!"

"I have my sources!"

"I had Tai San!"

"Oh, and she was quite happily going to tell you if she _had_ fallen for him?"

"I _would_ have know!"

"No you wouldn't! You wouldn't know anything she didn't want you to know! And now she's with Mega and you still can't see her doing anything wrong!"

"She is NOT with Mega!"

"She IS! Who else could it be? She knew about the hidden latch. She knew about the sewer entrance. She killed those who were on guard so that they couldn't raise the alarm, then captured as many of the rest of us as she could find!"

"Did you see her?"

"Of course not! We were hidden, or we would have been taken too!"

"Then you've no proof it was her."

There was a storm of footsteps thudding angrily out of the room, the sound of something getting kicked, hard, and then silence. After a few minutes, the darker shadow beneath the window moved to leave, but then stopped as another sound broke the silence.

"Are you okay?" Trudy asked, tentatively.

"Me?" Ebony replied. "I'm fine. It's Lex who can't see what's under his nose!"

"I think you're right you know. Amber doesn't. Alice doesn't. Pride says he's 'keeping an open mind' and Jack... Well, he's not saying much."

"What's different with you?"

"I think I saw her."

"What? Who? Tai San?"

"Yes," Trudy nodded and came forward to sit down on something, probably the bed, taking her out of the shadow's limited line of sight. "It was just after Brady was taken, or just before she was returned to us. I went to the hotel and I saw her. I'm sure I did. She stopped some guards throwing me out or taking me to Ram or something, I can't remember, and told me it would be okay. Then Mega brought Brady back not long afterwards. I remember thinking I must have been mistaken, but now... I'm not so sure."

****

"Come on!" A young, pink haired girl yelled at her comrade as she dragged her through the early morning bustle of the marketplace. "We cannot stop at every jewellery stall, Candie!"

"But Jinx!" the slightly younger, pink-clad, girl wailed.

"No buts!" Jinx replied. "We have to get there before the whole city's awake or we'll never get in!"

"Why do we have to move? I liked our old place!" Candie moaned, hurrying to stay on her feet as Jinx dragged her through the already crowded streets.

"You know why: we'd been found! It was only a matter of time before the place got raided. If we don't get to this place without someone following us or spotting us going it, then we'll have to move again, and this time I don't know where we'll go!"

Candie moaned again, but hurried on in relative silence, her belongings in a large bag on her back. This was the third time they'd had to move in as many months. Jinx always said it was because someone had found us, but Candie never knew precisely who had spotted their hideout or when. Still, she thought to herself, she wasn't the most observant of people: that was why she left all that to Jinx.


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

"Ebony?"

Silence.

"Ebony, we have to talk about this some time."

Still silence.

"I know you're there. I know you can hear me."

Nothing.

"Look, Ebony, I know you said you needed time, I-I know you said you wanted space, but it has been months. You need to talk about it. I need to talk about it. We need to talk to each other! It wasn't just your baby that died, Ebony, it was mine too! It was ours! Our baby! We need to talk about this!"

No reply.

"Are you sure she's in there, mate?" Lex asked, walking up behind Jack so quietly that the red-haired boy jumped when his fellow Mall Rat first spoke.

"Well, she's nowhere else in the mall," Jack replied, irritably. "I-I've looked everywhere, including all the hiding places."

"All the hiding places you know, you mean."

"I know them all."

"You sure?"

"Yes," Jack answered though gritted teeth.

"Then why isn't she answering you?"

"I would have thought it was because she still isn't talking to me," Jack spat. "But since you're the only one round here she does talk to, why don't you enlighten me?"

"Maybe it's because she's not there."

"Then _where_ is she?"

"Who knows. Maybe she went outside."

"Outside? Now? With Mega and his murderous cronies trying to take over? Even Ebony wouldn't be... Oh no."

"What?"

"H-have you seen Trudy?"

"Why?"

"Have you seen her, Lex?"

"No, not recently."

"When, when was the last time you _did_ see her?"

"I dunno, breakfast I guess."

"Y-you don't eat breakfast, a-at least not at the same time as the civilised world!"

"Hey!"

"Never mind!"

Jack rushed past the older boy and hastened up the stairs to the cafe. Amber, Sammy and Mouse were playing with Brady, Bray and Hannah in a corner of the room that had been made into a crèche while Jay, Pride, Morgaine and Alice were pouring over a map watching Glitch point out areas on it. Pride looked up as Jack ran into the room, pausing in the act of pushing a pin into the map.

"Where's Trudy?" Jack asked, breathlessly, as Lex sauntered into the room behind him.

"She's in her room," Amber replied. "She asked me to look after Brady for a bit. Said she had a headache."

Jack looked over his shoulder and nodded to Lex, who hurried off in the direction of Trudy's room, then turned back to Amber.

"When was that?"

"Just after breakfast. Why?"

"When was the last time anyone saw Ebony?"

Blank faces exchanged blanker glances.

"I haven't seen her today at all," Amber said, frowning. "There was some food missing when I came to make breakfast for the kids: I just assumed she was avoiding us again."

"H-how much food?"

"I don't know. Enough for a day or two. She's done it before. I'm just glad she takes food in there with her when she's like that, rather than starving herself."

Just then, Lex returned.

"Trudy's not in her room," he said quietly. "Jack, what is it? What's going on?"

"We should have listened to them," he said. "Both of them. They were convinced Tai San was Modem. Trudy wasn't at first, but once Glitch's story sunk in, she was sure it was, remember? Plus, I overheard them last night. I was going to talk to Ebony. She'd just had a fight with Lex and he'd stormed off so I went over to talk to her, but Trudy got there first. They were talking about Tai San. Trudy said she'd seen her when she went to get Brady back from the Technos."

"What?" Lex cried, his outraged exclamation echoed in the gasps of the others in the room.

"Why didn't she say something to us?" Amber asked. "This changes everything!"

"Not necessarily!" Lex replied indignantly.

"Yes, Lex, it does!" Amber shouted, getting to her feet. "You know full well it does!"

Lex winced, but remained silent.

"So, you're telling us they've gone off on their own?" Pride asked Jack.

"Maybe, I-I don't know. It certainly looks like it."

"What other explanation is there?" Alice asked.

"But where would they have gone?" Jay spoke up. "They don't know where Mega's hiding."

"Actually..." Glitch said quietly. "They might."

****

A distant tapping woke Ryan from his uncomfortable slumber chained to the wall. As his brain cleared, as much as it could in the dark, smoke-fogged room, the tapping noises became footsteps. They were getting closer. Ryan peered through the gloom and could just make out the blurry blonde and pink images of Ellie and Gel, huddled together on the opposite wall. The brazier in the corner was still giving out a sickly, foul smoke that seemed to be responsible for their permanent drowsiness. The footsteps stopped. Ryan looked round to see the heavy door of their jail swing open and allow a small, masked figure entrance to the room. The figure stooped over Ellie and Gel, checking them over and leaving a few items by their sides.

As the figure moved across the room to Ryan, he could make out that it was female in form and, as it drew closer still, wearing a Techno uniform and mask. Behind the mask, dark eyes glinted, dark eyes that had been deprived of any expression by the featureless sheet of metal before them. The girl, whoever she was had long black and blue braids and the skin of her hands was darker in colour than Ryan's. When she reached him, the girl took a bottle out of the bag Ryan then saw she was carrying.

"Drink this," she said, raising the bottle to Ryan's lips.

Ryan, still slightly clouded by the smoke, shook his head, dully, and pulled away from her.

"It's water, it will help," the girl insisted. "I have food too. Hurry, I do not have much time."

Something in her tone or turn of phrase ignited a tiny spark of recognition in Ryan's brain and he leant down to let the girl raise the bottle to his lips. Some of the water slopped down his front, but once he had drunk almost half the bottle he felt the effects of the drugged smoke begin to lift slightly. No longer parched, his mouth formed words.

"Tai... Tai San?"

"Quiet. You must not know me here. If they knew, I would be watched constantly and would not be able to come back. Here, they are t-bars. They are old, but they will still sustain you. Get the girls to hide the bottle and wrappers when you are finished with them. Do not burn them on the fire, it will only make it worse. There is bread too. I left it with the girls. They should not be back for a day or two, you are not that important yet and the fire is maintained from behind the wall. I must go now. I will wake the girls. Do not look for me. I will try to come back, but I cannot promise that I will be able to."

"Wh-what?"

"I must go. Good luck."

Tai San hurried back across the room to the girls, shook them violently and poured some of the water over their faces. As soon as they started to awaken, she hastened from the room. Ryan watched her go and listened as her footsteps receded down the corridor, wondering when, if ever, they would see her again.


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

"I can't believe I let you talk me into this!" Ebony hissed as she ducked down into the desolate building and handed Trudy the bundle she had been carrying.

"I thought you were supposed to be the fearless one," Trudy snapped back quietly. "Besides you didn't take that much convincing!"

"There is a difference between being fearless and being stupid! We've barely got half the facts and the only food we've got is what I stole from the cafe. We're too recognisable in these clothes so we've had to steal others and we've nothing to bargain with, unless you think we should steal that too!"

"How long would we have had to wait if we had decided to wait on the others? Glitch has given us a good enough idea of where to head for and not even Mega could hide a force the size she says it is."

"I don't know, Trudy, we never had the chance to find out! I can't believe you never told everyone about seeing Tai San with the Technos!"

Trudy sighed and finished pulling on the clothes Ebony had acquired for them. She stood up and brushed herself down. She was wearing dark blue jeans with dark purple trim, a dark purple, short-sleeved jumper and a dark blue hooded fleece jacket with dark purple arms.

"I figured they'd be more your colour," said Ebony, also standing up in her new attire.

Trudy looked Ebony up and down. She was still in black and red, but her outfit was no longer sleek and figure-hugging. The loose black cargoes looked as though they had come straight from an old Techno store and the frayed-edged black top with slashes of red through it and tied by a drawstring fed through a fake skull was so unlike anything Ebony had ever worn before Trudy felt she would have walked past Ebony in the street had she not known this was her. Ebony gave her a look and she realised that she had been staring and looked around for their bag of food.

"Come on," Trudy said as Ebony pulled on a huge, full-length black overcoat worthy of the tackiest action movies. "We'd better get moving."

****

"Jack SIT DOWN!" Amber yelled, back to the fore now that she no longer had to worry about feeling guilty in Ebony's presence.

"They could be anywhere!" Jack retorted. "They could be dead by now!"

"And how, exactly, is that going to help us find them? Glitch has told us everything she told them so we should be able to work out where they are going. We know they took some food, but nothing else. They didn't spend time planning things, they just upped and left."

"And how often have you known Ebony to do something without planning it? She's a born tactician: she doesn't go running off half-cocked! She's the one who wanted us to know what toothpaste the Technos used before we attacked them!"

"So you're worried she's not thinking straight?"

"Of course I am! How could I not be! She hasn't spoken to me in ages unless she really had to. She's been stealing food from here and spending days at a time in her room. She's dyed her hair black..."

"She's not insane!" Lex cut in, sharply. "She's just grieving."

"What, a-and I'm not, you mean?" Jack yelled, rounding on Lex.

"With all due respect, mate, you only found out about the baby days before she lost it. Ebony had been carrying that child, inside her, a part of her, for months! I think she's entitled to be a little worse for wear right now!"

"All the more reason she and Trudy shouldn't be wandering around the city on their own! They're hardly Thelma and Louise!"

"Oh, I don't know..." Amber muttered, resignedly, in the background as the boys continued to rant.

"Ebony can take care of herself," Lex retorted. "So can Trudy, if needs be, though she'll never hear me say it!"

"Guys, time! Please!" Alice yelled finally, throwing up her hands. "We'll never get anything done if you two old women insist on holding us up like this!"

"Fine," muttered Jack, sighing and walking back over to the table upon which was spread a map of the city.

"From Glitch's information," Jay began, "and from what I know of Ebony as a tactician, I'd say they were headed this way. We know that Mega and his troops are out here somewhere," he indicated and area of the map with the edge of a chopstick from the cafe. "And we know that the warehouse Hope was held in was here," he pointed at a grey block a some distance away from the first area. "If I know Mega, he would want the group holding Hope to have been completely separate from the main body of his forces, with no link between them, but he'd be wary and would watch the route between them anyway. Ebony has probably figured that out too, so she would probably approach from this direction, coming in at an angle with the two routes from the warehouse and the mall, but without going all the way round the back as she doesn't have the resources for a long trip."

"So how do we catch up with them?" Jack asked.

"We don't," Pride cut in. "We saw what happened last time we divided our forces. It's likely that Mega and his crew have got what they were here for, but not definite. We can't afford for a lot of us to go careening after them, it would be too noticeable."

"We can't just leave them to get on with it!" Lex cried indignantly, before Jack could voice his own, obviously concurrent, opinion.

"No," Pride agreed. "But we equally cannot send a large force: we just don't have the manpower, or women power for that matter. I would suggest that one or two of us follow the girls swiftly and discreetly and try to bring them back that way. We would need people who could hide in the city easily and know it well. Morgaine is one obvious choice as she is unknown and therefore unrecognised in this city, but she doesn't know it well enough."

"I know the city like the back of my hand," Jay offered.

"True, but you're too recognisable, even disguised, as are Amber and Alice. I know much of the city, but not this sector."

"I know it," Lex cut in. "And I can disappear easily when I want to. I'll go."

Pride looked to Amber, who nodded.

"That's settled then," Amber said decidedly. "Lex, you'd better go and get Morgaine; and somebody will have to take her place helping Mouse and Sammy look after the kids."

"Shouldn't that be help Mouse look after Sammy and the kids?" Lex muttered as he left the room, followed by Alice and Jack.

****

"Good day, my liege," the sweet, feminine voice floated across the perfumed air as Mega walked into the chamber.

"Good day, my queen," Mega replied, following the sound of the voice to where Salene lay languorously on an old chaise longue, it's threadbare upholstery covered by numerous fine-spun shawls and draperies. "I trust I find you well?

"You find me very well," Salene replied flirtatiously, "In fact, just this morning I had a head massage and my ladies in waiting have only just finished my manicure."

"The room is to your liking? The food?"

"Very much so, although it was a pity to leave our previous quarters: the view was so pretty at sunset."

"I know, my love, but once our plan is complete you can have your pick of boudoirs and your pick of views. All the fineries left in this city shall be ours and we can start to rebuild it according to our design, with proper disposal of waste, efficiently run farms, orderly markets..."

"And schools for the children."

"And schools for the children, yes. And perhaps we can even begin to rebuild the other industries. These clothes and furnishings will not last forever. We will need cloth and carpenters. They can come later, however. For now we must concentrate on winning the city and creating the base for our ideal."

"Indeed," Salene smiled. "How I wish there was a better way of making the city see the beauty of our vision. It is so sad that they will not change willingly."

"All the greatest visions require a little persuasion on the part of the beholder. We cannot expect everyone to see things as we do, but perhaps, in time, those dissenters will have disappeared."


	6. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

"Here!" Glitch called as Morgaine and Lex made their way to the grill. "Take these, you might need them, especially if you don't catch up with them in time."

"What are they?" Morgaine asked as the green-haired girl thrust a handful of items into Lex's hands.

"My stunner," Glitch began, "a photo and a ring. The photo is of one of my friends. He joined the Technos hoping that it would bring order to the city: make it safe to be in, make sure everyone had enough to eat and that there were medicines and clean water for everyone. He helped me get out, but he said someone had to stay on the inside. He told me about a tribe in the city that had fought Ram - the Mall Rats - and told me to find them, well you, and to tell you about Mega. He'll recognise the ring and know I sent you. Once he knows that and who you are, he'll help you as much as he can."

"What's his name?" Lex asked. "And what makes you so sure he'll recognise the ring anyway: it's pretty plain."

"Plain or not, he gave it to me and he'll know it when he sees it. His name's Cross. He'll do anything he can to help, but try not to get him killed, please!"

"Any particular reason why not?" Morgaine asked coldly.

"It's an engagement ring," Lex murmured, looking at the ring in question: a plain, thin, gold band with a single, tiny, clear, sparkling stone set directly into the metal. "Isn't it?"

"Wedding ring, actually," Glitch corrected him. "His grandmother's."

"We'll do our best," Morgaine assured her.

Glitch watched the two dark-clad travellers wander out into the city. As she turned she saw Amber watching from the fountain.

"I heard what you said," Amber said quietly as Glitch walked over to her. "I didn't think Mega allowed his troops to have feelings for each other?"

"He doesn't," Glitch replied, looking down at her hands. "Mega doesn't exactly know. That's why Cross said I had to leave, even without him: Mega would have found out about us if I hadn't and then he would have had us deleted."

"How would Mega find out? If you were careful, surely..."

"We weren't careful. At least not careful enough. He might not be likely to catch us together, but in a few months it's going to be pretty obvious I've been seeing someone!"

Amber's eyes widened in surprise at this knowledge.

"Why didn't you tell us before?"

"I wasn't sure you'd be willing to take in one ex-Techno, let alone a pregnant one with a husband still working for the enemy!"

****

"Get down!" Ebony hissed, ducking back behind some crates as heavy footsteps approached.

"Who is it?" Trudy whispered, crouching down behind Ebony.

"How the heck should I know? I'm not gonna stick my head out there and be spotted just to find out who it is!"

The footsteps grew closer and both girls held their breath. Slowly the noise died away again and, after a few moments silence, Ebony tentatively looked over the crates. Seeing nobody in view, she edged forwards to the end of the alley and checked the length of the street.

"It's clear, come on."

Trudy followed Ebony as she hurried across the open street to another shadowy alley opposite. As the girls wound their way quickly through the varied detritus of the city, they didn't notice when one of the many shadows of the alley got up and followed them.

****

"I-I don't get it!" Jack cried, holding his daughter on his knee with one arm and gesturing wildly with the other. "Why would they go off like that? Hmm? Why? Why not come and talk to us? Tell us where they're going?"

"Maybe because we would have tried to stop them?" Alice said soothingly.

"Too right!"

"Well then?"

"Fine! But they could at least h-have left a note! Something!"

"So that we could follow them and bring them back?"

"Yes... well... I-I don't know! I just don't see how they think they're going to be able to take on Mega, and all his troops, all by themselves! I-It's reckless! Suicide!"

"Jack, calm down," Jay cut in. "Ebony isn't one to rush headlong into danger without even considering the consequences!"

"Maybe not when you knew her, but now, I don't know! She's not exactly been full of the joys of spring recently! She's just lost her baby! My baby! My..."

Alice and Jay glanced at each other as Jack's voice broke and he looked away, tears threatening. Hope looked up at her father curiously, her head on one side. Rather shakily she reached up a hand and patted Jack's face. Not getting a response, she reached up with the other hand and tugged his hair.

****

Skye yelped as she stumbled over a stray root. She wasn't familiar with this part of the forest and was beginning to wish she had just headed straight for the city, but she knew that Slade would only turn up there eventually, in the marketplace, in a bar or just generally around. She fell again, this time landing on her hands and knees and tearing the leg of her trousers. She swore and turned over, sitting on a nearby tree root and examining the tear. It was noticeable, but she could probably sew it if she had a needle and thread. The broken root that had torn the cloth, however, had also scraped through the flesh on her leg, leaving a shallow cut that oozed blood and would definitely have to be cleaned out before it healed over with dirt in the wound.

She shook her pack off her back and rummaged through it. Her first aid kit wasn't extensive, but it at least contained a couple of bottles of alcohol from Ruby's saloon, some clean strips of linen for use as bandages and a dwindling bag of cotton wool. She also had a few bottles of clean water in her pack for drinking and she grabbed one of these first to wash the worst of the dirt out of the cut. After the water, Skye opened one of the bottles of alcohol, took a swig and then soaked a ball of cotton wool in it to clean the wound properly. She gritted her teeth as the alcohol stung and burned her flesh, killing any germs that might cause an infection. When she was satisfied, she returned the bottle to her pack and began wrapping one of her makeshift bandages round the leg, tying it securely and rolling the torn trouser leg back down over it. She put the rest of her things away and shouldered her backpack once more, ready to stand up and get on with her journey.

As she used a low lying branch to pull herself to her feet, Skye cried out and sat back down again. She could clean and dress the wound as much as she liked but that didn't help her walk on it, or even stand, without support. She swore again.

Skye looked around her, hoping to see some sturdy looking fallen branch nearby that she could use as a staff, but there was nothing. Any branches that might have been of use were either still on the trees or beginning to rot beneath the fallen leaves of early autumn that lightly covered the forest floor. She opened her mouth to swear again, then stopped.

Someone, or something, was making its way through the forest. It didn't sound like the constant shuffling of one of the smaller forest creatures, nor did it sound like the hurried gallop or lazy meander of a deer. It sounded like footsteps. Human footsteps crunching rhythmically through the dry leaves and twigs. One, two, swish. One, two, swish. One person, with a staff. A wanderer, then; a loner. Someone who was used to travelling, at least. Someone without a tribe. No tribe, no allegiances. Someone who might help.

Or someone who might harm.

Skye rolled over and down into a dip in the forest floor, wondering why she had been so vain as to wear a white jacket and dye her hair bright blue: neither colour one that disappeared easily in a forest. The footsteps grew closer.

One, two, swish. One, two, swish. One, two, swish. One, two, swish. One, two, swish. One, two.

Skye held her breath.

"You're not invisible, you know," said a voice.


	7. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

"Nothing's broken," said the young man after examining Skye's injured leg. "Just a sprain. You're lucky."

"I don't feel lucky!" Skye muttered.

"Sometimes it's hard to see the good things in life," he replied, with a laugh. Standing up, the young man held a hand out to Skye. "Here: let's see if you can stand with a bit of help."

Skye reached out and took hold of the outstretched hand. She had to hold on to a nearby tree with her other hand to get herself standing, but, once she was up, she found it easier to balance. She tried to take a step and cried out in pain. Sighing, her new found mystery man helped her out of the ditch and over to a rock where she could sit down.

"You need something sturdier to strap that ankle up," he said. "And maybe some sort of crutch too."

"Any suggestions?"

"I've got a few ideas. They'll have to wait though."

"Why?"

"I'm hungry."

Skye watched, confused, as the young man wandered off towards the trees again.

"Wait," she called after him. "Where are you going?"

"To get some firewood," he replied. "I figured you like your fish cooked!"

Before Skye could reply, he had disappeared into the forest. There was nothing she could do but sit and hope he returned. She scanned the trees for his spiky hair: bright blue like her own, but with white and silver streaks here and there. It would surely stand out better than his bright green hoodie, unless, of course he put the hood up. Skye cast her mind back over his appearance. In the old world, she'd have thought he was an art student. He was about her age, maybe a little older. His jeans were old and faded, but had been sprayed or dyed with greens, yellows and purples so that they blended in with his hoodie and the purple, short-sleeved shirt he wore over it. He had no tribal markings that she had seen, but he did have a gold ring through his right eyebrow!

Skye pulled her jacket closer round her and wondered how long it took to gather enough wood for a fire in the middle of a forest. He had been gone most of an hour now and the light was starting to go. She scanned the trees again, but there was no sign of her mystery man. Just as she was beginning to wonder if she should try walking again, she felt a hand on her shoulder and looked round to see two fish being dangled on a string beside her.

"I did actually have to catch them first," said the young man as he secured the fish to a branch and started unbundling firewood.

Skye stared at the fish for a moment, then back to the young man preparing the fire.

"I have a strict rule," she said.

"Oh, and what's that?"

"Never let a stranger cook you dinner."

The young man leaned back from the unlit fire and laughed.

"My name's Skye," she added, when he had stopped laughing. "What's yours?"

"Ackley," he replied. "My name is Ackley."

****

Trudy crouched with her back to the wall, ready to run if necessary. Ebony had been gone almost five minutes now and Trudy's legs were beginning to feel stiff. She was beginning to wonder if she had done the right thing, persuading Ebony to leave the mall without any of the others. Ebony may be a force to be reckoned with, but sneaking around like some kind of female James Bond wasn't Trudy's thing. Especially not when most of the sneaking around actually meant waiting around for Ebony to do the sneaking!

Shifting her position, Trudy sighed. Ebony should be back by now. There was always the possibility that something had happened to her, but Ebony wasn't the type to go quietly and Trudy certainly hadn't heard anything. She'd been listening hard enough. Even as she thought this, a faint noise caught her attention and her head snapped round in the direction of the sound. If there had been one thing she had learned from her time with the Gaians, it was how to pinpoint the source of a sound.

She peered through the gloom of the evening at an empty alleyway across the street. Nothing moved. There was no more noise. In the distance, a bird sounded. A real one, not someone calling secretly to a friend. Again, Trudy's time in the forest had taught her to recognise the difference. It had also given her an instinct for shadows. She frowned at the empty alley.

Suddenly, she heard another noise and her body stiffened. This noise wasn't in front of her, it was off to her left and getting closer. Loath to remove her gaze from the alleyway, Trudy glanced quickly round. A low black shape was moving quietly towards her. Trudy relaxed. It was Ebony.

"You took your time!" Trudy hissed as Ebony came to a stop by her side.

"Patience is a virtue!" Ebony drawled.

"Keep your voice down, we're being watched."

"What?" Ebony frowned, lowering her voice to a whisper. "Where from? Who by?"

"I don't know who," whispered Trudy. "But I'm sure they are over there, in that alleyway."

Ebony looked round, scrutinising the area. She could see nothing but shadows.

"I don't see anything," she said loudly, shaking her head. As Trudy opened her mouth to speak, Ebony held up her hand and spoke again, this time in a whisper. "Look, we need to get out of here and find somewhere to spend the night. If there is anyone watching us, they might follow us, so keep close and do exactly as I say. Don't speak. If you think you see them following, cough."

Trudy nodded silently, then followed Ebony as she turned and headed back along the side of the building she had just scouted. About half way along the building, Ebony suddenly grabbed Trudy's hand and pulled her across the road, breaking into a run. Together they darted down another alleyway and round a corner, Ebony only letting go of Trudy's hand when she stopped, as suddenly as she had started, and flattened herself into a deep doorway in the wall, signalling Trudy to do the same. A moment later, they heard the quiet sound of footsteps making their way quickly down the alley. A shape emerged into their line of sight. It was dark clad but distinctly female. The young woman looked left, then right along the street, then turned and walked back down the alley.

Trudy let out the breath she hadn't realised she was holding and felt Ebony do the same. Behind her, she felt the door give a little and she turned and tried the handle. It was open. Looking round to Ebony, she tilted her head in the direction of the doorway and Ebony nodded. They cautiously made their way into the building.

****

"We should stop for the night," said Morgaine, putting a firm hand on Lex's shoulder. "We do them no good by tiring ourselves like this."

"I'm not tired," Lex complained.

"Perhaps not, but you still need to sleep," Morgaine reached up and pulled down the ladder of a fire escape just above her head. "Let's try up here. We can pull the ladder up after us. The noise of it being pulled down will warn us if anyone is coming."

"How do you know there isn't anyone in there just now?"

"I don't. But it's better than sleeping on the streets."

Lex shrugged and followed the Amazon up the ladder, pulling it up behind them when he reached the top. As quietly as possible on the metal stairs, they made their way up the side of the building and into a room at the top. It was an apartment, which at least meant there would be a soft bed and perhaps a sofa.

"You are a difficult man to read, Lex," said Morgaine once they had established that the apartment was uninhabited and the front door was locked. "From Alice's stories I had imagined you to be much rasher in word and deed, and much less likely to be ruled by a woman."

"Yeah, well," Lex replied, resting his head on the back of the sofa they had found. "I was much younger when Alice knew me."

"True," Morgaine nodded. "The others, though: they seem to me very like the people Alice described. They do not seem to have changed much at all. Only you and, perhaps, Ebony."

"Ebony," Lex muttered, still staring at the ceiling.

"Why claim to be in love with Salene," Morgaine asked, "when it is Ebony who truly has your heart?"

"What?" Lex's head snapped forward to stare at the Amazon sitting opposite him. "No! I mean... Ebony and me: we're just friends!"

"I don't doubt it," Morgaine replied, aware that she now had his full attention. "But you care much more for Ebony than you are willing to admit. Perhaps because she is unable to care for you in the same way?"

"I... Wh..." Lex stammered and gave up. "Okay, fine: I love her. I just said it was Salene I was worried about so that Jack wouldn't get jealous. He has enough on his mind."

"He doesn't strike me as the jealous type."

"Oh, you don't know him like I do. Believe me, when he first started seeing Ellie he was winning prizes for jealous boyfriend of the week!"

"Ellie. She's the blonde girl who was taken? The one who fainted when she found out Jack was with Ebony? I thought she was married to Luke?"

"She is," Lex nodded, raising his eyebrows. "She dumped Jack for Luke, twice. Seems he had a right to be jealous that time, and the time before."

"Jack seems a popular young man. Strange: he is not what I would call an ideal mate for an Amazon. I find it hard to believe his daughter will inherit any fighting skills from him!"

"Oh, Jack can fight when he's riled. Trust me on that one!" Lex laughed. "I remember when the Chosen first arrived and took Ellie and the others prisoner. There was just me, Bray and Ryan left: we'd been at the gathering of the tribal leaders and had just watched them all be captured too. We got back to the mall and everyone was gone."

"Sounds familiar."

"Tell me about it!" Lex nodded. "Anyway, we searched all over the mall to see if we could find anyone. We hadn't found the hiding places then. Hadn't thought we'd need them. The only person we found was Jack. He'd managed to hide under his bed, of all places. I mean talk about clichéd! Well, he was in a right state. Angry at the Chosen for taking Ellie. Angry at himself for hiding instead of trying to help. When he calmed down and told us what had happened, we set out to find them. Suddenly we bump into this guy Wolf. He'd been hanging around with Ellie and the others at the mall sometimes, so he knew us. It looked like he'd been beaten up. He said it was the Chosen and he had a message for us and, like fools, we believed him. It wasn't until we spotted that his bruises weren't quite as solid as they should be that we found out he was a spy. Bray tried to stop him, but Wolf was getting the better of him, and believe me: Bray was no weakling. Then along storms Jack, drags Wolf off Bray and throws him straight down the stairs! The guy was out cold and we didn't hang around to see if he would wake up. I'd never seen Jack like that. Neither had the others. We were the fighters. He was the geek. He worked out how to stop enemies getting into the mall. We beat them up if they did! Suddenly he goes all incredible hulk on us!"

"Interesting," Morgaine nodded. "It makes it a little easier to see why Jetta chose him. Ebony too perhaps. Let us hope that he does not go 'all incredible hulk' again, though. In his current state of health, such an exertion could kill him."


	8. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

The warehouse was large and had been long since looted of anything edible, tradable or remotely useful, but Ebony and Trudy found themselves a quiet, dark corner in a central office and settled themselves for the night. They still had the blankets they had brought with them, but their supply of food and water were running low. If they didn't find more soon, they would have to think about returning to the mall. Curled up back to back, they each tried to rest and let go of the worries of the day. Sleep refused to indulge them, though, and soon they fell into a hushed conversation.

"The way I see it," Trudy murmured as darkness enveloped the two young women. "I see two problems that are opposites. On the one hand there is you: the mother who has lost her child. On the other, there is Hope: the child who has lost her mother. Each of you linked together by Jack. I'm not saying Hope could ever make up for what happened, Ebony, but I think you do need each other. And Jack needs both of you. You have to talk to him. Try and work it out. In the long run, it will help you get past this."

"The only thing that will help me get past this is revenge," Ebony growled. "I couldn't fight them then because I was pregnant, so I hid. I hid and I lost my baby anyway. Because of them. Well, honey: I'm not pregnant now and by God, I am gonna fight! I am going to find their 'king' and I am going to rip his head off with my bare hands. Then, and only then, will I even consider getting past this."

"And what about Jack?" Trudy asked. "Where does he fit into all of this?"

"I don't know," Ebony sighed, her frown, invisible in the darkness, came through clearly in her tone. "Every man I've ever loved has left me. Add to that, the fact that every woman Jack has ever impregnated, he's left before he found out."

"Oh, come on, Ebony!" Trudy laughed. "That's just two women, each in very different circumstances. Plus he had a good reason for leaving each time! You can't hold that against him!"

"Maybe not logically, no," Ebony mused. "But that's the problem. When is your heart ever logical? I mean logically, I should not be in love with Jack. I'm a fighter and I'm a leader. Jack's neither of those."

"They do say that opposites attract, you know."

"Yeah, cause that works so well for every other couple in the mall!"

"What do you mean?" Trudy laughed. "Ryan and I are hardly identical in character!"

"Maybe not identical," Ebony replied grudgingly, "but you've still got a lot in common. You both love kids for starters! And you're certainly not opposites!"

"May and Pride then."

"May's left and I don't think Pride ever really loved her in the first place."

"Okay," Trudy conceded.

"And don't even think about suggesting Jay and Amber!" Ebony cut her off before she could speak again. "Or Ellie and Luke! Both of those couples are like peas in a pod!"

Trudy rolled her eyes in the darkness. This wasn't an argument she was going to win. Instead, she decided to change tack.

"So why Jack then?" Trudy ventured, aware that this was a painful subject for Ebony, but curious nonetheless. "Since you are, as you say, opposites, what made you get together?"

"It's a long story," Ebony sighed. "Let's just say I found out more about him in that journey from the Mall to Liberty than I had in all the years I'd known him."

"And why is that a good thing?"

"I don't know," Ebony shrugged. "The funny thing was, the more I found out, the less I felt I could read him. He became a mystery and that intrigued me."

"Oh, come on," Trudy scoffed. "You're not actually expecting me to believe that you fell for a guy because you couldn't work him out?"

"Laugh all you want. It's true. He's full of contradictions."

"Like what?"

"Like he can be ridiculously shy one minute and arrogantly confident the next. He'll run or talk rather than stand and fight, but he'll put himself in stupid amounts of danger for someone he cares about. He's possibly the most intelligent guy I know but he can be completely blind to what's going on around him sometimes. Other times he's the only one to see the truth of things. He's possibly the most loyal guy I know and yet he's the only one to have suddenly acquired a nearly two year old daughter!"

"I think that one kind of threw everybody, Ebony!"

"It certainly threw me."

"And that's why you don't trust him?"

"No," Ebony sighed again, choosing her words. "It was more the fact that he left me in the middle of the night with nothing but a note full of clichés for company."

Inadvertently, Trudy laughed out loud. She clamped a hand over he mouth and tried to stem the rising tide of giggles.

"What?" Ebony hissed. "You want to bring our friend in the shadows in here?"

"Sorry," Trudy gasped. "I've just realised what it is you two have in common."

"Care to share?" Ebony drawled, still not seeing the funny side.

"Did you two fight a lot on the way to Liberty?" Trudy queried, amusement still showing in her voice.

"Yes," Ebony said with exaggerated patience.

"And you never wondered why that might be?"

"Well?"

"Your sarcasm, Ebony," Trudy explained. "It's your first line of defence, isn't it?"

"So?"

"Haven't you noticed? It's Jack's too. Always has been. That's why you two always fight, and that's what attracts you too him. You can fight with him without hurting him. And vice versa. It all bounces off. You're both used to it. Ebony, you're never happy unless you're fighting someone. Now you've found someone you can fight with all the time without losing them. No wonder you fell for him!"

"Great theory," Ebony snapped. "Just a couple of problems. We ARE hurting each other and I AM losing him!"

"Yes, but that's not a normal fight with you two is it?" Trudy persisted. "Admit it: you've been walking on eggshells around him since he collapsed and he's been walking on eggshells around you since you lost the baby. If you're losing him, then it's because you're not treating each other as you usually would. You're scared to say what's on your mind in case he collapses and he's scared to say what's on his because he doesn't know how you're feeling. As far as his experience goes, all women who are or have recently been pregnant tend to go a bit nuts on him. Remember me after I had Brady? Salene when she miscarried? We both tried to kill ourselves then. He's probably scared you'll do the same."

"Been there, done that, remember?"

"Even more reason for him to be worried. Plus he probably blames himself."

"He'd better! I do!"

"Then tell him! Have it out with him! You'll have a massive argument, you'll both say whatever's been bugging you and the air will be cleared. You'll feel much better for it."

"It's not as simple as that."

"Why not?"


	9. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

"Surely we'd have seen something of them by now!" Lex groaned, throwing up his hands.

"You said yourself that you can disappear when you don't want anyone to see you. You don't think that Ebony or Trudy can do the same?"

Lex opened his mouth to say something then stopped and looked at Morgaine.

"Who have you been talking to?" Lex asked, pausing in the middle of the rubbish strewn street. "And what did they say?"

"Amber mostly," Morgaine replied, turning to face him. "She assured me that Ebony was more than capable of sneaking around the city when she wanted to."

"What did she tell you about Trudy?"

"That she learnt many skills when she lived with the Gaians. Not least how to follow, and avoid leaving, a trail."

"Did she tell you about Trudy's stint as Supreme Mother of the Chosen?"

"Yes, Lex. She did," said Morgaine, keeping her eyes on Lex's face. "I do not think that Trudy is our traitor, Lex. Any danger to Ebony is that which she walks into knowingly."

"How can you say that!" Lex cried, throwing his hands up in the air. "You have no idea what danger she's walking into! None of us have! That's why we're out here!"

"From everything Jack, Alice and Amber have told me, Lex," Morgaine replied, her voice becoming stern, "Ebony is a warrior. Warriors assess their battles before they fight them. She may not have known when she set out exactly what threat she was facing, but she knew enough to be wary of it and check it out fully before making her move. She is grieving, yes. She is out for revenge, yes. Both of these things make her judgement shaky. Neither of them, however, make her stupid. She might take on a riskier plan, but not one where the risks are so high it's a pointless suicide. Especially not when she has Trudy with her and Jack back at the mall."

"You haven't seen her on the brink of insanity!"

Morgaine opened her mouth to reply, but was interrupted by the sound of falling rubbish behind her. She spun round just in time to catch sight of a dark figure disappearing round the corner.

"Come on," she said, running after the shadow.

With Lex hot on her heels, Morgaine rounded the corner and found the side street deserted. Slowing her pace to a gentle stop, she scrutinised every aspect of the street. Nothing moved. There were no doors in either building to left or right. Holding up a hand for Lex to be quiet, Morgaine made her way down the side street. Where another, larger street crossed it, she signalled to Lex to edge down one side of the opening, while she took the other. Their backs to opposite walls, they made their way down to the corners, watching and listening for movement.

Nothing.

Stepping out into the wider street, Lex looked left and right but saw no sign of human activity. He kicked a pebble in frustration and turned to Morgaine. She was investigating the double doors of the warehouse she had edged down the side of.

"These doors have been opened recently," she whispered when Lex joined her. "Look at the ridge in the dust: there's a fresh footprint."

"Could mean anything," Lex muttered.

"Currently, anything is better than nothing," replied Morgaine, keeping her voice low. "It could be our friend from the alley, or it could be someone else who may have seen something. It is worth checking out."

"Yeah, you're right," Lex conceded. "Let's be careful, though: it could just as easily be a trap."

Morgaine nodded and edged the door open, keeping her head low to let light past her into the room. The wide open space beyond seemed empty. She nodded to Lex and he followed her into the warehouse. Once inside, they let the door swing closed behind them. They made their way quietly through the warehouse, Morgaine with her hands free in readiness for an attack, Lex picking up and examining what remained of the warehouse stock. It was Morgaine who spotted the office.

Signalling to Lex to be quiet, Morgaine made her way through the second door just as carefully as she had the first. She narrowly missed the broom handle that swung towards her and caught the foot that followed it.

"Finally!" Lex sighed as he removed the broom from Ebony's outraged hands.

About half an hour later, all four were sitting around the office desk, Lex still in charge of the broom.

"I didn't ask you to come after me!" Ebony spat.

"And I didn't ask you to go running off on some head case revenge power trip without thinking it through first!"

"Thinking it through? All I've been doing since the attack is thinking it through! Everything I have done since my baby died is part of thinking this through! I can't stop thinking it through, Lex!"

"What, and you don't think we want revenge too? That I want revenge? Paul's dead, Ebony! And KC! And a stack of our friends are gone! Kidnapped! Including my best mate! You don't think I want to waste whoever did this? You don't think I want them back?"

"We all know that Amber and Jay would hold off and hold off until there was no chance of finding them," said Trudy, breaking her silence for the first time. "They're afraid. Afraid of breaking this tiny bubble of peace and harmony that they've finally managed to get going for themselves. Well I'm not afraid. Whoever did this took from me the best thing to happen to me since Brady was born! They took Ryan! And I am NOT going to sit back and wait for all the fuss to die down so we can go back to living in our own little version of Stepford!"

****

"It sounds beautiful," Pride murmured, gazing out over the city from the roof of the mall.

"It was," Alice sighed, also admiring the view before her. "And completely free of men too!"

"We have our uses, don't we?" Pride laughed, turning to face Alice.

"I guess," Alice replied, turning to face Pride. "Although I never seemed to have any luck in that department."

"I can hardly claim to have done any better," Pride shrugged. "Amber, May, Salene: every relationship doomed from the start!"

"True," Alice laughed, turning back to look out at the city and the spreading marketplace down below. "I guess we'll just have to grow old alone together, if that makes any sense!"

"I guess so," Pride laughed, looking back out to the city.

They stood in companionable silence for a while, watching the goings on in the busy marketplace below them. Suddenly, Alice shifted and pointed a finger down at the crowd.

"Hey, did you see that?"

"What?" Pride asked, turning and following the line of her outstretched arm.

"There: the girl with the pink hair. Hiding behind the skip."

"I see her."

"She just stole a loaf of bread."

"Maybe she's hungry and has nothing to trade."

"Keep looking," Alice ordered. "You see the little blonde head behind her? There's two of them."

"So she has a little sister to feed."

"A little sister who's carrying a massive bag on her own back and holding another one that probably belongs to our pink-haired thief!"

"What are you going to do, Alice," Pride hissed as Alice turned and stormed off in the direction of the door. "By the time we get down there, they'll be long gone!"

"Maybe," Alice replied. "Maybe not. I intend to find out!"

****

"Look, we may as well stop for a while," Ackley sighed, watching Skye struggle with the makeshift crutches he had found for her. "You either don't know or won't say where you're going and I... Well, I'm a drifter. I don't really care where I end up. There's a river just down the hill and plenty of shelter in this part of the forest. I know how to fish and where to find berries and mushrooms. We can stop here for a day or two and let your leg heal a bit before we move on."

"In the middle of the forest?" Skye asked, disbelieving.

"Spoken like a true city girl!" Ackley laughed. "Come on, sit down! We have everything we need here. We could stay here as long as we liked!"

"How?" Skye shrugged. "Water, okay, we have that. Shelter? Maybe in the good weather, but what if it rains? Warmth? We can't keep a fire going overnight in the middle of the forest: one of us would have to stay awake all night to watch it! Food? Fish, maybe, but how good are you at catching fish and how long would it take before we were sick of the stuff. Berries and mushrooms? Well, I just don't see that many of them round here!"

"Okay," Ackley smiled. "You sit here and rest. By the end of today you will have a shelter to keep the rain off, a fire in its own fireplace, and a good meal inside you that doesn't have anything to do with fish. All without you lifting a finger. What do you say?"

"Are you for real?" Skye scoffed, incredulous.

"What can I say," Ackley shrugged. "I like a challenge!"


	10. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

Skye looked at the bowl in front of her, opened her mouth to say something, closed it again and frowned.

"It's not fish, as promised," Ackley grinned.

Skye's eyes flicked up to him and she frowned again.

"It's not rat either, before you ask, although they do taste rather like chicken."

Skye raised the bowl to her nose and sniffed cautiously. It didn't help: all she could smell was wild garlic and a few other less identifiable herbs, roots and berries.

"Do I want to know what it is?" Skye murmured suspiciously.

"It's crayfish. They're like big freshwater prawns."

"And the rest?"

"Wild garlic, parsley and potato, with a few wild brambles thrown in for colour. Nothing you couldn't buy a domesticated variety of in a supermarket, I promise."

"Wild potatoes?"

"They're living things like any other. Seeds have been escaping farms and gardens ever since they were first cultivated here. They're easy to find if you know where to look."

"Really?" Skye's eyebrows slid up her forehead, but she raised the spoon to her lips and tried the stew anyway. "It's good," she said, trying not to sound so surprised.

"I told you it would be," Ackley grinned. "And you are, if I may point it out, eating it under a rain-proof shelter by a nice, safe fireplace."

XXXX

"I can't believe I let you talk me into this!" Lex hissed.

"Quiet!" Morgaine hissed.

Below them and across the alleyway, Ebony and Trudy squatted over a patch of ground. The dust on the road had been sufficient to scratch a few lines in and various bits of detritus had been added to the makeshift map to represent buildings. Crucially, they were the wrong buildings.

It hadn't taken much to convince Morgaine and Lex that some unknown shadow had been following Ebony and Trudy since they left the mall. That shadow was still looking for them and may well still be in the area. It had taken a little longer to try to convince them that an attempt to capture the shadow and find out what he or she wanted would be a good tactical decision. In the end, ground down by arguments from three sides, Lex had grudgingly agreed to a plan.

The first part of the plan had involved him having a blazing row with Ebony. That hadn't been too difficult in the circumstances. Then, of course, he had to storm off, followed by Morgaine, cursing the two renegades and announcing that he was leaving them to their own devices. A ruse that would be seen through in an instant if it were played by anyone other than the Mall-Rats' most famous maverick and wild card. He had a reputaion for temper tantrums and unthinking rash actions. If he had played the part right, and he felt sure he had, their shadow would be thinking he and Morgaine were long gone by now.

That, then, meant leaving the girls on their own. That part he hadn't been too happy with. He wasn't the only person present with a history of rash actions and running off. What was there to say this wasn't just a plan of Ebony's to get them out of the way while Trudy and she made a break for it again? It seemed, though, as he watched them, that his fears had been unfounded. At least for now. The two girls hunched over their map across the street, deliberately badly hidden behind some old trash cans, and talked over their devised 'plan of attack'.

It had taken a while for Lex and Morgaine to circle back round, sure of not being seen or tracked, and get to the top of the building overlooking the street. Now all they could do was wait and hope that the solitary spy was truly solitary, and that he, or she, would take the bait.

XXXX

"Alice, what do you want me to say?" Amber shrugged. "We don't have that authority any more. Nobody does! Ever since we got rid of the Technos, we've all just gone back to working in our own little groups. Every tribe looks after its own rules and the traders look after the marketplace. If somebody is stealing stuff from the traders, it's up to them to catch the theif and stop it. We don't have any jurisdiction there any more."

"What so we just sit back and watch when we see stuff happening that shouldn't be?" Alice threw up her hands in despair. "Come on, Amber! You would never have said that when I last knew you! You've changed! I don't know whether it's the effect of lover boy here," she waved a hand in the direction of Jay, "or if you're living in some kind of fantasy world where you think ignoring the bad stuff makes it go away. Whatever it is, though: I don't like it and I don't agree with it, and I will not stand back here and watch and hope it'll all be okay and nobody will notice when things start to go wrong."

"Alice," Pride cut in, unsuccessfully.

"No, Pride," Alice shrugged off the restraining hand Pride had placed on her arm. "The Amber I knew was full of hope and of dreams. She had a vision of a just world. Where everyone was treated fairly and honestly. Where people were safe and free, and could live in peace without having to worry about having their homes invaded and their loved ones carried off or killed. The Amber I knew believed in that and fought every day for that. This one just seems to think that wishing for it makes it true!"

Shaking off Pride's hand, Alice turned and stormed out of the cafe, leaving Amber staring blankly after her, absently stroking her baby's head. After a moment's silence. Amber nodded, passed the child to Jay and left the room. Jay looked down at his daughter, sleeping peacefully, then at the door through which her mother had so suddenly departed, then up at Pride.

"It's starting again, isn't it," he said quietly. It was more a statement than a question. Without waiting for an answer, he nodded, mimicking his wife's movements, and left the room.

Left alone in the cafe, Pride sighed and closed his eyes. It wasn't what he wanted, but alice had been right: it was at this stuff."

"And so it begins," he murmured sadly.

XXXX

"I can't believe you designed all this right after the virus broke out," Glitch breathed, impressed. "You must have been what: twelve?"

"Fourteen, actually," Jack sighed, looking down into the crib where Hope lay sleeping. It wasn't that hard: I had loads of books."

"I had a year of Ram's training programs and I still couldn't do anything like this. Not on my own."

"I wasn't on my own," Jack's brow wrinkled. "I had help from a friend. My best friend actually. He was really great at this stuff. I'd never have worked out half the stuff half as fast without him."

"What happened? Did he leave, like you?"

"He died," Jack's head dropped, bringing his voice down to a whisper. "Back when the chosen first attacked the city. He was trying to warn Amber and the others, but they got to him first. They left him for dead, but he survived long enough for Amber to find him and hear the warning. He probably saved their lives."

"I'd heard she led the rebellion against the Chosen," Glitch nodded, scanning the interior of Jack's old room with interest. "I know she was a big part of bringing the Technos down. She's not quite what I imagined, though. If I didn't know what I do about the Mallrats, and about Amber herself, I'd be worrying that I'd come to the wrong place!"

"She's changed. We all have, I guess. So many of us have lost people, been captured ourselves, risked everything, even killed people, just to survive. It takes it's toll, even on the stongest of us. It changes you."

"Have you ever killed someone to survive?" Glitch looked sharply at Jack, her head on one side. She was met with blank, empty silence.

Eventually Jack shook his head, as if shaking water out of wet hair, and turned away.

"I'm hungry," he said. "If you don't mind, I'd like to get my daughter and I something to eat now."

"I can watch her for you while you do," Glitch offered.

"No, I'll take her with me," said Jack, picking up the sleeping toddler. "If she wakes now, she'll just sleep better later."


End file.
